Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:2.7.11.13 (protein kinase C)
49,245 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

We have previously shown that, in bovine retina pericytes, amyloid beta(1-42) and its truncated form containing amino acids 25-35, after 24 h treatment, stimulate arachidonic acid (AA) release and phosphatidylcholine hydrolysis, by activation of both cytosolic (cPLA(2)) and Ca(2+)-independent (iPLA(2)) phospholipase A(2). A putative role for MAP kinases in this process emerged. Here we studied the role of the MAP-kinase family as well as both cPLA(2) and iPLA(2) mRNA expression by a semi-quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in the same sublethal model of amyloid-beta (Abeta) damage to pericytes in vitro. Abeta(25-35) peptide evoked AA release as well as stimulated phosphorylation of ERK1/2, p38 MAPKs and cPLA(2), but not c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK/SAPK). PD98059, an inhibitor of ERK-activating kinase MEK-1, and SB203580, an inhibitor of p38 protein kinase, abolished the stimulation of AA release and MAPK activities. In cells stimulated by Abeta(25-35) peptide, Western blotting and confocal microscopy analyses confirmed either an increase in the phosphorylated form of ERKs and p38 or their nuclear translocation. A complete inhibition of MAPK activation and AA release was also observed when pericytes were treated with GF109203X, a general PKC inhibitor, indicating the important role of both PKC and the two MAPKs in mediating the Abeta peptide response. Compared with samples untreated or treated with reverse Abeta(35-25) peptide, pretreatment with 50 microM Abeta(25-35) for 24 h significantly increased the level of constitutively expressed iPLA(2) mRNA by 25%, which seems to depend on the activation of kinases. By contrast, the level of cPLA(2) mRNA remained unchanged. Together, these data link either the stimulation of PKC-ERK-p38 cascades or PLA(2) activity by Abeta peptide to prooxidant mechanism induced by amyloid, which may initially stimulate the cell reaction as well as metabolic repair, such as during inflammation.
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PMID:MAPKs mediate the activation of cytosolic phospholipase A2 by amyloid beta(25-35) peptide in bovine retina pericytes. 1586 64

Alzheimer's disease, as well as most of other neurodegenerative disorders, is characterized by the deposition of insoluble proteinaceous aggregates. Hence, any intervention aimed at reducing this process could be envisioned as a therapeutic way to slow down the disease. In the case of Alzheimer's disease, the culprit protein is the 40-43 amino acid-long amyloid beta peptide (Abeta). This fragment is generated from the beta-amyloid precursor protein (betaAPP) by two distinct enzymes, namely the beta- and the gamma-secretases. In the past years, a tremendous effort has been made to develop potent and specific inhibitors of these proteolytic activities. Beside these Abeta-forming proteases, a third cleavage performed by the so-called alpha-secretase takes place in the middle of the Abeta sequence and not only precludes its formation but also generates the secreted product sAPPalpha that possesses neurotrophic and neuroprotective properties. This beneficial cleavage has been shown to be strongly upregulated by protein kinase C (PKC) agonists and to be, at least partially, triggered by ADAM proteases (A Disintegrin And Metalloprotease). Recently, a proteolytic attack with similar characteristics has been shown to occur in the middle of the "toxic" 106-126 domain of the prion protein (PrPc), which PrPsc isoform is the causative agent of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies. As both Abeta and PrP(106-126) trigger neurotoxicity and cell death, this ADAM-dependent proteolytic attack could represent a valuable therapeutic target in order to deplete cells from these endogenous "toxins"and prevent the associated aggregates usually detected in affected brains.
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PMID:ADAM proteases: protective role in Alzheimer's and prion diseases? 1597 64

Prostaglandins (PGs) are generated by the enzymatic activity of cyclooxygenase-1 and -2 (COX-1/2) and modulate several functions in the CNS such as the generation of fever, the sleep/wake cycle, and the perception of pain. Moreover, the induction of COX-2 and the generation of PGs has been linked to neuroinflammatory aspects of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) that block COX enzymatic activity have been shown to reduce the incidence of AD in various epidemiological studies. While several reports investigated the expression of COX-2 in neurons and microglia, expression of COX-2 in astroglial cells has not been investigated in detail. Here we show that amyloid beta peptide 25-35 (Abeta(25-35)) induces COX-2 mRNA and protein synthesis and a subsequent release of prostaglandin E(2) (PGE(2)) in primary midbrain astrocytes. We further demonstrate that protein kinase C (PKC) is involved in Abeta(25-35)-induced COX-2/PGE(2) synthesis. PKC-inhibitors prevent Abeta(25-35)-induced COX-2 and PGE(2) synthesis. Furthermore Abeta(25-35) rapidly induces the phosphorylation and enzymatic activation of PKC in primary rat midbrain glial cells and in primary human astrocytes from post mortem tissue. Our data suggest that the PKC isoforms alpha and/or beta are most probably involved in Abeta(25-35)-induced expression of COX-2 in midbrain astrocytes. The potential role of astroglial cells in the phagocytosis of amyloid and the involvement of PGs in this process suggests that a modulation of PGs synthesis may be a putative target in the prevention of amyloid deposition.
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PMID:Amyloid beta peptide (25-35) activates protein kinase C leading to cyclooxygenase-2 induction and prostaglandin E2 release in primary midbrain astrocytes. 1654 99

Rigorous scientific research has identified multiple interactive mechanisms that parallel and are likely causative of the development of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Causative mechanisms include genomics, the creation of amyloid beta (Abeta), factors inhibiting the Abeta removal process, the transformation of Abeta to its toxic forms (various forms of Abeta aggregation), and lastly the oxidative, inflammatory, and other effects of toxic Abeta. Fibrillar beta-amyloid peptide, a major component of senile plaques in AD brain, is known to induce microglial-mediated neurotoxicity under certain conditions, but some recent studies support the notion that Abeta oligomers are the primary neurotoxins. Abeta-42 oligomers that are soluble and highly neurotoxic, referred to as Abeta-derived diffusible ligands (ADDLs), assemble under conditions that block fibril formation. These oligomers bind to dendrite surfaces in small clusters with ligand-like specificity and are capable of destroying hippocampal neurons at nanomolar concentrations. Evidence is presented that AD is triggered by these soluble, neurotoxic assemblies of Abeta rather than the late stage pathology landmarks of amyloid plaques and tangles. The premise is that AD symptoms stem from aberrant nerve cell signaling and synaptic failure rather than nerve cell death, which nevertheless follows and exacerbates the initial pathologies of AD. The defective clearance of amyloid leads to amyloid angiopathy that in turn perpetuates hypoperfusion that affects formation as well as absorption of CSF thereby altering clearance of amyloid and promoting vascular and parenchymal deposition[1]. Hypoperfusion, the defective clearance of amyloid, and resultant increase in amyloid deposition thus represent a vicious cycle. Chronic vascular hypoperfusion-induced mitochondrial failure results in oxidative damage, which drives caspase 3-mediated Abeta peptide secretion and enhances amyloidogenic APP processing. Intracellular Abeta accumulation in turn promotes a significant oxidative and inflammatory mechanism that generates a vicious cycle of Abeta generation and oxidation, each accelerating the other. Abeta activates astrocytes that add to the oxidative imbalance, upregulate the expression of APP via TGF-beta, and are capable of expressing BACE1. Each of these 3 actions accelerates the larger cycle of cholinergic neuron destruction. As oxidative stress induces lesions of cholinergic nuclei producing a reduction in cholinergic neurotransmission, a subsequent increase in cortical APP involving PKCepsilon leads to accelerated amyloidogenic APP metabolism. The linkage of cholinergic activation and APP metabolism completes an additional feedback loop wherein the damage wrought by Abeta accelerates further Abeta production. A comprehensive vision of the neuropathophysiologic mechanisms that result in AD reveals several vicious cycles within a larger vicious cycle, that is to say, a number of interactive systems that each, once set in motion, amplify their own processes, thus accelerating the development of AD.
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PMID:Vicious cycles within the neuropathophysiologic mechanisms of Alzheimer's disease. 1661 Oct 10

Deposition of plaques containing amyloid beta (Abeta) peptides is a neuropathological hallmark of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Here we demonstrate that neuronal overexpression of the epsilon isozyme of PKC decreases Abeta levels, plaque burden, and plaque-associated neuritic dystrophy and reactive astrocytosis in transgenic mice expressing familial AD-mutant forms of the human amyloid precursor protein (APP). Compared with APP singly transgenic mice, APP/PKCepsilon doubly transgenic mice had decreased Abeta levels but showed no evidence for altered cleavage of APP. Instead, PKCepsilon overexpression selectively increased the activity of endothelin-converting enzyme, which degrades Abeta. The activities of other Abeta-degrading enzymes, insulin degrading enzyme and neprilysin, were unchanged. These results indicate that increased neuronal PKCepsilon activity can promote Abeta clearance and reduce AD neuropathology through increased endothelin-converting enzyme activity.
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PMID:PKCepsilon increases endothelin converting enzyme activity and reduces amyloid plaque pathology in transgenic mice. 1670 31

This study examined the effect of amyloid beta peptide (Abeta) and the secretase inhibitors of amyloid precursor proteins (APP) on the spontaneous apoptosis of neutrophils. Abeta(1-40) decreased the apoptotic rate of neutrophils. The delayed apoptosis by Abeta was not blocked by pertussis toxin and N-formyl peptide receptor-like 1 antagonistic peptide, WRWWWW. The inhibitors of phoshoinositide 3-kinase (LY294002), phospholipase C (U73122), or Ca++-dependent protein kinase C (Go6976) abrogated the anti-apoptotic effect of Abeta on neutrophils. Moreover, the Abeta-induced delay of apoptosis was inhibited by a calcium chelator, BAPTA/AM. The amount of the APP protein was reduced in the cultured neutrophils and the APP level in the Abeta or pancaspase-treated neutrophils was lower than that in the cultured neutrophils. However, the reduction in APP level was recovered after treating them with the secretase inhibitors or anti-Fas antibody. The exogenous addition of cell permeable beta- and gamma-secretase inhibitors resulted in an increase in the rate of the apoptosis. The regulation of neutrophil apoptosis by the addition of Abeta and secretase inhibitors occurred via the caspase -8, -9, -3, and mitochondrial-dependent pathways. This suggests that the intracellular beta-amyloid proteins play a role as regulating factor of neutrophil survival and that Abeta-induced delay of apoptosis is mediated by other receptors rather than a seven-transmembrane G protein-coupled receptor(s).
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PMID:Modulation of neutrophil apoptosis by beta-amyloid proteins. 1671 9

Microarray technology was utilized to isolate disease-specific changes in gene expression by sampling across inferior parietal lobes of patients suffering from late onset AD or non-AD-associated dementia and non-demented controls. Primary focus was placed on understanding how inflammation plays a role in AD pathogenesis. Gene ontology analysis revealed that the most differentially expressed genes related to nervous system development and function and neurological disease followed by genes involved in inflammation and immunological signaling. Pathway analysis also implicated a role for chemokines and their receptors, specifically CXCR4 and CCR3, in AD. Immunohistological analysis revealed that these chemokine receptors are upregulated in AD patients. Western analysis demonstrated an increased activation of PKC, a downstream mediator of chemokine receptor signaling, in the majority of AD patients. A very specific cohort of genes related to amyloid beta accumulation and clearance were found to be significantly altered in AD. The most significantly downregulated gene in this data set was the endothelin converting enzyme 2 (ECE2), implicated in amyloid beta clearance. These data were subsequently confirmed by real-time PCR and Western blot analysis. Together, these findings open up new avenues of investigation and possible therapeutic strategies targeting inflammation and amyloid clearance in AD patients.
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PMID:Alterations in immunological and neurological gene expression patterns in Alzheimer's disease tissues. 1718 79

We have shown previously that dietary blueberry (BB) extract supplementation (S) reversed several parameters of neuronal and behavioral (e.g., cognition) aging in rodents. Additionally, findings indicate that COS-7 cells transfected with muscarinic receptor subtypes (e.g., M1) showed decrements in Ca;{2+} clearance following depolarization (Ca;{2+} Recovery time, Ca;{2+}RT) that were antagonized by BB. Since it has been postulated that at least part of the loss of cognitive function in aging may be dependent upon a dysregulation in calcium homeostasis (i.e., Ca;{2+}RT), we assessed whether: a) Ca;{2+}RT would be altered in dopamine (DA)- or amyloid beta (Abeta)-exposed cultured primary hippocampal neuronal cells (HNC), and b) BB pre-treatment of the cells would prevent these deficits. Thus, control or BB (0.5 mg/ml)-treated HNC were exposed to DA (0.1 mM, 2 hrs), Abeta(40) (25 microM, 24 hrs), Abeta(42) (25 microM, 24 hrs), and Abeta(25-35) (25 microM, 24 hrs), and Ca;{2+}RT following KCl-induced depolarization assessed. Ca;{2+}RT was assessed as the % of HNC showing recovery to 50%-70% of control at 5, 10, or 15 min after depolarization. Results indicated that DA significantly lowered Ca;{2+}RT in the HNC at all time points examined after depolarization. However, BB treatment selectively prevented these declines in Ca;{2+}RT. In the case of Abeta, the greatest effects on Ca;{2+}RT were seen when the hippocampal cells were Abeta(42)-treated. These effects were antagonized by BB treatment. Abeta(40) produced fewer deficits on Ca;{2+}RT than those seen when the HNC were pre-treated with either A;{2+}(42) or A;{2+}(25-35), but BB was relatively ineffective in antagonizing the deficits in Ca;{2+}RT produced by A;{2+}(40) or A;{2+}(25-35). Additional analyses indicated that BBs may be exerting their protective effects in the hippocampal cells by altering levels of phosphorylated MAPK, PKCgamma, and phosphorylated CREB. Therefore it appears that at least part of the protective effect of BBs may involve alterations in stress signaling.
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PMID:Dopamine and Abeta-induced stress signaling and decrements in Ca2+ buffering in primary neonatal hippocampal cells are antagonized by blueberry extract. 1765 22

Cyclic AMP response element-binding protein (CREB) plays important roles in neuronal plasticity and amyloid beta-peptide (Abeta)-induced cognitive impairment in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Here we demonstrated that Ginkgo biloba extract, EGb 761, displayed the neuron protective effect by activating the CREB signaling pathway. Wild-type neuroblastoma cells cultured in a conditioned medium containing cell-secreted Alphabeta exhibited reduced levels of phosphorylated CREB (pCREB). Addition of EGb 761 (100 microg/mL) or an anti-oligomer-specific antibody (A-11) to the conditioned medium could restore pCREB level. In a neuroblastoma cell line expressing Alphabeta, treatment with EGb 761 increased levels of pCREB and brain-derived neurotrophic factor. Furthermore, CREB phosphorylation induced by EGb 761 was blocked by inhibitors of several upstream signaling pathways of CREB, including protein kinase C, ERK, ribosomal S6 kinase(RSK)90 and nitric oxide pathway. Moreover, these inhibitors differentially blocked the effects of individual components of EGb 761, ginkgolide C, quercetin and bilobalide, which suggest diverse effects of the EGb 761 individual components. Actions of individual EGb 761 components provide further insights into direct mechanisms underlying the effect of EGb 761 on enhancing the cognitive performance of patients with AD.
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PMID:Restoration of impaired phosphorylation of cyclic AMP response element-binding protein (CREB) by EGb 761 and its constituents in Abeta-expressing neuroblastoma cells. 1800 Dec 88

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most prevalent form of dementia, and its effective disease modifying therapies are desperately needed. Promotion of non-amyloidogenic alpha-secretase cleavage of amyloid precursor protein (APP) to release soluble sAPPalpha, based on the most widely accepted "amyloid model" as a plausible mechanism for AD treatment, is the focus of this review. Modulation of alpha-secretase or "a disintegrin and metalloprotease (ADAM)"s activity via protein kinase C (PKC), calcium ion (Ca(2+)), tyrosine kinase (TK), MAP kinase (MAPK), and hormonal signaling, which regulate catabolic processing of APP, are discussed. The inhibition of amyloidogenic processing of APP by the beta- and gamma-secretase has been considered till now a promising strategy to treat AD. But beta- and gamma-secretase inhibitors, along with the available therapeutic tools for AD, have side effects. These challenges can be circumvented to certain extent; but activation of sAPPalpha release appears to be a potential alternative strategy to reduce cerebral amyloidosis. Drug screens have been performed to identify therapeutics for AD, but an effective screening strategy to isolate activators of alpha-secretase has been rarely reported. Novel reporter-based screens targeted toward APP mRNA 5' untranslated region (UTR), followed by counter-screens to detect alpha-secretase stimulators, could be important in detecting compounds to promote sAPPalpha release and reduce amyloid beta (Abeta) buildup. The primary inflammatory cytokine interleukin-1, which stimulates APP 5'UTR-directed translation of cell-associated APP, enhances processing to sAPPalpha in astrocytes and co-activates ADAM-10/ADAM-17 through MAPK signaling; thus illustrating a novel pathway that could serve as therapeutic model for AD.
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PMID:Role of the APP non-amyloidogenic signaling pathway and targeting alpha-secretase as an alternative drug target for treatment of Alzheimer's disease. 1804 31


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